Brett and I have received a lot of emails about this video (and rightly so). Despite being threatened with disqualification for her controversial topic, 12-year-old Lia chose to deliver this speech for competition at her public school in Toronto — and won! Now her eloquent defense of life has been viewed almost 400,000 times on YouTube — and even saved a baby’s life.

Read more about this rebelutionary here and here. Way to go, Lia!

The fourth installment of our Not Too Young to Die series has been a long-time in coming, but I’m happy to announce that we are now back on track. If you haven’t read the first three installments, use the links at the bottom of this post to catch up.

In our last installment, Your Life Story, we discussed three marks of a tragically wasted life. Today’s post looks at the first: a lukewarm attitude of complacency. Here is one of the best descriptions of complacency that I’ve come across:

“Complacency is a blight that saps energy, dulls attitudes, and causes a drain on the brain. The first symptom is satisfaction with things as they are. The second is rejection of things as they might be. ‘Good enough’ becomes today’s watchword and tomorrow’s standard. Complacency makes people fear the unknown, mistrust the untried, and abhor the new. Like water, complacent people follow the easiest course — downhill. They draw false strength from looking back.”

For Christians this often reveals itself when we become satisfied avoiding evil, but not pursuing good. Psalm 1 tells us that “blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, no stands in the way of sinners, no sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on His law he meditates day and night.”

Charles Spurgeon comments, “Perhaps some of you can claim a sort of negative purity, because you do not walk in the way of the ungodly; but let me ask you — is your delight in the law of God? Do you study God’s Word? Do you make it the man of your right hand, your best companion and hourly guide? If not, the blessing of Psalm 1 does not belong to you.”

This is important, because we’re often tempted to sign-up for a less “extreme” version of the Christian life. Instead of the Platinum “Jim Elliot” Membership, we like the sound of the Bronze “Joe Christian” Membership. Less benefits, but less effort. Sounds good, right? But Scripture doesn’t leave that option open to us.

Writes C.S. Lewis: “It is hard; but the sort of compromise we’re hankering after is harder — in fact, it is impossible. We are like eggs at present. And we cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.”

In other words, we can’t just go on being ordinary, decent Christians, giving God part of our lives while holding back the rest. Either we are hatched and learn to fly or we are a dud that will soon start to stink.

The first mark of a tragically wasted life is complacency.

Some questions for discussion:

• Read the description of complacency above. What “symptoms” of complacency do you see in your own life?
• Are you known for what you don’t do, or for what you do? Why do you think it’s easier to just avoid evil than to pursue righteousness? [Note: Tasha has posted an excellent response to this question. Check it out!]
• In the words of C.S. Lewis, are you trying to just be an ordinary, decent egg? What would it take for you to “hatch and learn to fly?”
• Katie’s “Bonus” Question from the Comment Section: What is the difference between contentment and complacency?

ThisIsNext.org just released an amazing promo video for the 2009 conference — produced by our good friends at Vinegar Hill Pictures. Check it out.

When we were asked to submit a testimony about our experience attending New Attitude, we jumped at the opportunity. As the conference transitions this year — a new name and an exciting focus on transferring the gospel to the next generation — we want to point all of you to an event that has had a big impact on us, as well as those of you who have been blessed by the work of the Rebelution.

Next is being held in Baltimore, Maryland, on Memorial Day weekend — May 23-26. The topic is the person and work of Jesus Christ. The speaker lineup includes Joshua Harris, D.A. Carson, Kevin DeYoung, C.J. Mahaney, and Sinclair Ferguson (!!!).

But without further ado, here is our New Attitude/Next story:

Growing up, going to New Attitude was always the highlight of the year. Not because it was our big brother’s conference, but because of the worship, teaching, and discussion that took place. The sessions by men like CJ Mahaney, Al Mohler, Mark Dever, and John Piper were the catalysts for major steps of growth in our walk with God.

In 2004, Dr. Mohler delivered a message on the modern crisis of young people delaying adulthood—particularly in the area of marriage. His challenge to embrace responsibility resonated with us. It served as the seed for an idea that grew and matured over the next two years — the Myth of Adolescence, and a challenge for young adults to rebel against the low expectations and “do hard things” for the glory of God.

In 2004, that idea became a ten-minute speech for competition in the NCFCA, placing first in the nation. In 2005, that speech became the first series on our new blog, The Rebelution. In 2007, that series turned into the opening session of our first conference tour. In 2008, that session developed into one of the first chapters in our book, Do Hard Things.

Can a conference change the whole course of your life? For us, the answer is yes.

+ www.ThisIsNext.org +

LATEST: Thursday, 4:12 PM: Tests reveal today that Tyler’s stomach has healed on its own! There is now no need for a stint to be inserted in the stomach.

Tyler’s pancreas still hasn’t healed, but it looks as if he’ll be coming home on Saturday. After seven weeks in the hospital, we’re all excited for him. He still won’t be able to eat at home, as he will have a feeding tube until his pancreas completely seals. We’re still praying that that will take place without addition surgery or more future hospital stays.

Monday, 10:34 PM: Pancreas is still leaking. Still praying it seals.

Friday, 1:06 PM: This morning, one of the tubes to Tyler’s stomach came out without warning. His surgeon was then called in to re-insert the tube–a painful and disturbing experience, to say the least.

It’s just an example of the kind of experiences Tyler has on a day-to-day basis these days. Right now, he feels caught in limbo (as do we all). His pancreas must heal before the procedure can be done to open his stomach (see my entry from last Sunday for more explanation on this procedure,) but the pancreas is very slow to heal.

Please be in prayer that the pancreas will heal soon. Our family has been strengthened and continually refreshed by God and His people, but Tyler’s pain has surpassed that of childbirth and has been ongoing for the last 42 days. Tyler is exhausted and we are so very much yearning for him to be home and out of this constant pain.

“But may all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; may those who love Your salvation say continually, ‘Great is the LORD!’ As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!” -Psalm 40:16

Wednesday, 11:33 PM: The procedure on Tyler’s stomach has been delayed, as the doctors want to make sure its stitches are healed before doing anything to it. The pancreas is still leaking and Tyler is still in intense pain.

Monday, 11:55 AM: We’re still in need of much prayer. Tyler’s pancreas has begun to leak again. The doctor seems confident that this is natural, but Tyler finds the continual setbacks extremely discouraging.

Thank you for continually praying for Tyler and for showing so much love toward my family during the past five weeks. We’re all (very) ready for this to be over, but we know God is faithful and never grows tired.

2/22, 3:03 PM: On Tuesday, Tyler is due to have a procedure on his stomach. We don’t know why the stomach does not seem to be opening, but we’re praying that it isn’t due to scar tissue. If it is indeed scar tissue, we’ll be here at the hospital at least another week. If it’s not, hopefully the doctor will be able to insert a stint and Tyler will be able to drink some Sprite that same day (Tyler hasn’t been allowed food or even water for quite a while, so Sprite is a big deal). Then, the next day the goal would be to have a smoothie, and from there, real food. Needless to say, we are all hopeful that the stomach problem will prove to be minor.

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Post header courtesy of Jaime Colman and Baptist Bible College.

In December, Brett and I were invited to attend a White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives round table discussion of young social entrepreneurs. The Rebelution was well-represented. Zach Hunter (our host), Conner Cress, and Jack and Leeland Mooring were all panelists. But what was even more exciting was to hear the stories of other teens, like them, who God is using to bring hope to a hurting world.

“Walk Humbly with Your God”

One of the young people we met was 17-year-old Jaime Colman from Pennsylvania. In 2007 her church partnered with 410 Bridge, a missions organization that uses humanitarian projects to share the gospel and meet the needs of rural Kenyan communities. After the church decided to adopt the town of Karogoto, Jaime found about a pressing need for something that most of us take for granted: shoes.

Jaime figured that her family wasn’t the only one with shoes in the closet that they didn’t need or never wore. She called her project Walk Humbly, based off Micah 6:8, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

“God Could Make it Happen”

She set a goal to collect 150 pairs of shoes. Her plan was to kick off the drive with a “Barefoot Mile” at her high school’s track. People would come, donate shoes, and walk four laps around the track barefoot. Some adults were skeptical, questioning whether people would show up and doubting that Jaime could even get the shoes to Africa if they did — but it didn’t take God long to prove them wrong.

“There were definitely low expectations,” Jaime told us. “It was discouraging, but I knew God could make it happen. On a rainy Saturday, 50 people showed up at the track — with 1,164 pairs of shoes! By the time the drive was over, God had brought in over 4,200 pairs of shoes for the people of Karogoto.”

Now that she had the shoes, Jaime had to get them to Kenya. It wasn’t easy. “We had a really hard time figuring out how to transport the shoes,” she said. “We had a lot of companies say no before we finally found one who would help us.”

“A Great Miracle from God”

In June of last year, Jaime and 14 other members of her church traveled to Kenya to help distribute the shoes. At one of the locations, they ran out of women’s shoes. An 11-year-old on the team immediately took off her own shoes and gave them away. The whole team followed suit. They weren’t prepared for what happened next.

“When one of the Kenyan ladies noticed my bare feet, she offered me the shoes she had just received,” Jaime shared, tears in her eyes. “I was so humbled. I was giving out of sheer abundance but she was giving out of pure genuine sacrifice.”

Jaime shared another story — that of 90-year-old woman named Gladys, who stood in line with thousands of people to get a pair of shoes. “I had given up on putting on another shoe until I die,” she had told one of the 410 Bridge team members. “The last time I wore shoes was 5 years ago and my feet can attest to that. For someone to think of something like this for us is a great miracle from God.”

That’s the story of Jaime. Her simple idea was a great miracle from God. Ultimately, it’s His story — a God who still uses teens to “do hard things” for Him.

Pictures after the jump: (more…)